An Organized Christmas Part 3: Planning Kids’ Crafts & Gifts

October 17, 2011

Isn’t it fun to give Christmas gifts? I think I get more excited about what I’m giving than the gifts I’m receiving! Emma has grabbed onto that love of giving too. So each Christmas we choose a craft that she can make in big batches. She gives them to her grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, and uncles as gifts. We all enjoy working together to do the craft, and she loves wrapping and giving her special gifts.

A couple of years ago we painted wooden tree cutouts from the craft store. We decorated them with pom poms, glitter glue, and sequins and glued a painted-yellow star on top. A twist of raffia on top made for a cute little ornament.

Last year we bought flat wooden picture frames and heart cutouts. Emma painted them with sparkly purple, pink, and blue paints. We added a recent photo of her and some magnets to the back, and the frames were ready to hang on the fridge. In fact, those frames are still hanging on our family’s fridges!

I really like this craft because Emma can do most of the work on it herself. We’ll just have to help with the hot glue and maybe the ribbon. I’m hoping to pick up the materials this week so that we can get started soon. My guess is that we’ll all enjoy the project more this year because we won’t be hurrying so much to get it done.

If you want to make a craft-gift with your kids this year, here are some ideas that should spark your creativity. Maybe you’ll join us in making handmade gifts from the kids a tradition in your house.